How to choose an auto mechanic you can trust

 ​4 RED FLAGS TO BE AWARE OF WHEN CHOOSING A MECHANIC If you’ve asked all the right questions of the garage or mechanic you’re leaning toward, also keep in mind that there are some things

that should make you think twice. 1. ROCK-BOTTOM PRICES Watch out for low-ball fees quoted over the phone, especially if the service adviser doesn’t ask any questions, says garage owner Amy

Mattinat. If they give you a flat fee for an oil change without checking what kind of car you drive, that’s a bad sign. “A shop that advertises a $19.95 oil change tells me they don’t have a

master technician on staff, because they earn $25 to $35 an hour. If you’re going in there for something that cheap, the technician getting paid the least is the one that’s going to be

working on your car,” she warns. 2. THE JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES Beware of shops that say they handle anything, because often, you’ll end up paying more, Mattinat says. “When someone isn’t

trained, they don’t know what they’re looking for. You don’t want a shop that’s just going to type in the code they find in the computer and start replacing parts. That can be very

expensive, and parts can be put onto cars that weren’t needed,” she says. 3. MECHANICS WHO DO EXTRA WORK WITHOUT ASKING If you go in for routine maintenance or an oil change and the shop

comes back with a $300 bill or three pages of work they say you need, be suspicious, says repair shop owner Andrea Dello Russo. “Generally, if you’ve driven your car there and you didn’t

think there were any problems, then be cautious,” she says. “Any lengthy or large dollar estimate deserves a second opinion.” 4. BAD COMMUNICATORS It’s important to keep asking questions

until you understand what’s going on with your car. “I always ask, ‘Did that make sense to you?’ ” says Mattinat. “My job is not to sell repairs and maintenance; it’s to give information

about why it’s important, how much it’s going to cost, how fast we can get it done, and then say, ‘What do you want to do?’ ”